In a first, an Australian man has become the first in the world to live with a durable total artificial heart implant — made of titanium — for more than 100 days, and to be discharged from hospital.
The implant of a BiVACOR total artificial heart — the first in Australia and sixth in the world has been — “an unmitigated clinical success,” according to a statement on Wednesday by St Vincent’s Hospital, Monash University, and BiVACOR — the US-Australian company which developed the device.
The patient in his 40s, who declined to be identified, was experiencing severe heart failure. He underwent a six-hour procedure for the implant of an artificial heart on November 22, 2024, at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney.
The man lived with the device for 105 days before receiving a donor heart transplant in early March.
“At 105 days, it is the longest period in the world for a BiVACOR total artificial heart patient between obtaining their implant and then receiving their donor heart transplant,” the statement said.
The first BiVACOR total artificial heart implant took place in July 2024 at the Texas Heart Institute in the US.
Since then, four more implants have taken place in the US, with the longest time between implant and transplant being 27 days.
BiVACOR’s artificial heart implant is the world`s first implantable rotary blood pump. It uses magnetic levitation technology as a complete replacement for a human heart.
It is designed as a bridge to keep patients alive until a donor heart transplant becomes available.
The device comprise a Mini-Pump, that is implanted inside the hearts of patients who currently have no other option for treating their heart failure symptoms; and a new type of Left Ventricle Assist Device (LVAD) that is implanted next to a natural heart to help it pump.
Even as more than 23 million people worldwide suffer from heart failure, and only 6,000 will receive a donor heart, this artificial heart has the potential to “transform heart failure treatment”, said Professor Chris Hayward, a cardiologist at St. Vincent’s Hospital Sydney.
“Within the next decade we will see the artificial heart becoming the alternative for patients who are unable to wait for a donor heart or when a donor heart is simply not available,” Hayward said.
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